The Straight Goods Report

Telling the hidden Summit stories

Straight Goods comes of (and shows its) age with Summit coverage

Editorial by: Straight Goods Publisher, Ish Theilheimer

  By coincidence, Straight Goods was launched a month after the December 1999 WTO protests in Seattle. So it seems fitting that the publication may have come of age covering the Quebec City summit.
  Going in, it was a challenge to figure where Straight Goods would fit in between the media giants and the array of independent writers and picture-takers posting directly to the Web. We wondered what our role might be.
  As it happened, Straight Goods did a lot of the things we created it to do. It enabled a whole lot of people to share info, report, discuss and debate the events of the past couple of weeks. Straight Goods has helped by headlining, editing (a bit!) organizing and archiving an amazing array of views and points of view.
  Last week's Straight Goods editorial, along with all the new letters and articles posted, provoked a lot of debate and discussion. It has ranged from thanks and support to being blasted as outflanked, fuddy-duddy moderates supporting the corporate agenda and trying to cash in on the militants.
 

Accounts from ordinary-sounding readers paint consistent picture: the police went crazy

  The editorial expressed concern over tactics and the role of the traditional left - unions, NGOs, the NDP - in working with a new generation of radicals with a new critique. It is clear reading the incoming that many people also think progressive forces need a lot more discussion to be ready for next time, whatever that is.
  The other theme of this week, however, was what really went on under the cover of tear gas and behind the prison walls - not to mention in the police vans and buses. We tried to get this story out as it happened, but no one could write it, due to the chaos in the streets of Quebec. It really wasn't until our correspondents started getting out of town that true stories came out.
  Check out stories by people like Jen Chang and Darryl Leroux, Tabassum Siddiqui, or Raphaël Thierrin. Look at the other stories and letters we've posted. The pattern in pretty clear.
  I understand the frustration of the police. Guarding that fence was an impossible task. But accounts coming in from ordinary-sounding readers of Straight Goods, as well as regular writers paint a pretty consistent picture: the police went crazy. Both mainstream and alternate media got muzzled during the weekend (mainstream reporters were locked into their newsroom; indy reporters had theirs gassed). And by the time the news started to come out about police abuses and the harm they caused, the story was "old."
  Or maybe it was never taken seriously anyway. It is both disgusting and predictable that in the end, neither story was considered meaningful by mainstream media: neither the widespread police brutality nor the peaceful march of 50,000 was seen as being of lasting consequence.
  The government, for its part, dined out on events of the weekend. Although taking a pounding on trade issues going into the Summit - hence the PR emphasis on democracy - Jean Chrétien was able to turn things around by the weekend. He might have used a Raging Grannies recital to justify the massive police assaults, and he had more to work with than that (how many were provacateurs is another matter). He successfully cited what he presented as the need to defend peaceful summiteers and demonstraters alike from violent anarchy. As with the APEC protests, there is little doubt that orders came from the top for the massive crackdown and indiscriminate use of tear gas, rubber bullets and other weapons.
  In the end Chrétien probably won back a lot of mainstream Canadians. But his government's cynicism also helped build a movement, as commentators like Naomi Klein and Mick Lowe point out.
  Thanks to all our readers and writers for contributing to this ongoing discussion. Please feel free to take this old fuddy duddy on or to send news, views, info to us at thegoods@straightgoods.com

Ish Theilheimer lives on a farm near Killaloe in Eastern Ontario and is Publisher of Straight Goods.

The Straight Goods Report is a new weekly column being distributed to newspapers, web 'zines and portals, and radio stations all over Canada. You need not ask permission to reproduce it in your print or web publication, but please include our URL and let us know where you are posting it.

- Ish Theilheimer
- Killaloe, Ontario
- April 30, 2001
- ish@straightgoods.com

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